Sway
by Sebe
Summary: The moments following 6x22. Sam attempts to hold onto reality, Dean tries to hold onto Sam, and Bobby tries to keep them all from falling apart.


Summary: The moments following 6x22. Sam attempts to hold onto reality, Dean tries to hold onto Sam, and Bobby tries to keep them all from falling apart.

Author's Notes: Compliant to canon so far, even the preview clip, but soon to be blasted into AU on Friday. But seriously, I can't wait! Hope you enjoy and you can hold out a little longer to see what really happens to the Winchesters and their angel.

**Sway**

The moment Cas fluttered away to smite whoever it was a new god smites, Sam dropped, hand and knees to the floor.

"Sam!"

Dean was moving when Sam was still falling, heart beating loud in his ears. But he stopped short, shocked.

Sam scrambled back away from Dean, pulling himself up to lean precariously on the wall behind him. He grabbed the angel sword on his way and was now brandishing it at Dean.

"Stay away."

"Sam-"

"Shut up! Just- stop." Dean looked his brother over with wide eyes. Blood dripped down his face from a nosebleed. The hand holding the angel sword shook along with the rest of Sam. His eyes were wild and terrified, like a cornered animal. All together, Sam looked decidedly less than stable. Dean's fears were pretty much confirmed, to his horror, in the next few minutes.

Sam brought his free hand up to his head, wincing. He jerked sideways, like he was trying to escape from something close to his ear. His eyes blinked rapidly from clenched shut to forced focus on the two people in front of him. He was speaking, and it wasn't to Dean or Bobby.

"What do you want? Where is he?" Sam's words were slurred slightly. Dean and Bobby traded a quick look, desperation and helplessness exchanged. "I'll …I…I don't…know…"

Sam choked out a sound that was somewhere between laughing and sobbing.

Dean's uninjured hand was held up, trying to look unthreatening.

"Sammy, tell me-"

"No!" Now Sam's eyes were laser focused though Dean wasn't sure if that was an improvement or not because there was rage there, there was madness. "No…" he trailed off, apparently not able to retain that level of awareness for very long.

"'s'not real…not here. He would've…Cas would've died. Angel sword. Not…where are we? Why here?" Sam was only talking to himself now, the murmurs low.

Thoroughly terrified and beginning to panic, Dean managed to signal to Bobby to move around behind Sam while he was distracted. Sam's back was still to the wall, but he was right next to the doorway. If Bobby could get around in that blind spot… When Sam started to turn toward the movement, Dean distracted him the same way he had when he'd seen Sam sneaking up behind Cas. He just hoped there'd be different results this time.

"This is real, Sam. You're not in Cage and I'm not Lucifer." Dean's level voice disguised the real dread crawling inside him. Bobby was able to creep closer, he just had to buy a minute. "You're okay. You're safe. I'm gonna fix this, Sammy." Tears gathered in Dean's eyes, voice catching. Just because it was meant to be a distraction didn't mean it wasn't true. "We're gonna help you. I promise."

Sam seemed to falter and started to look confused. He lowered the sword a bit only to bring it back up, like he was fighting with himself or someone else which, for all Dean knew, was probably true.

"…Dean?" Dean managed a hopeful smile. Maybe they didn't need to take Sam down and disarm him by force. Maybe he could coax Sam back. When Sam dropped his hands to his side, Dean took a step toward him.

It was like a switch flipped. Sam was like a puppet with cut strings one second, then lunged at Dean the next.

Luckily, Bobby came up behind him, wrapping an arm around Sam's neck, the other grabbing the hand with the sword. Dean grabbed his other arm and swept one of Sam's legs out from under him. All three of them went down, Dean and Bobby cushioning Sam as much as they could while not letting him loose.

"Come on, Sammy. We're trying to help. You gotta know that."

Bobby finally pried the weapon out of Sam's hand and they got a firmer grip on him. Dean was beyond thankful Bobby was there since Dean could only really use one arm. He didn't think the other was broken, but it hurt like hell.

The second Sam realized he was completely pinned to the floor, something shattered in him. Whatever thin thread of sanity he had been holding onto snapped.

Sam let out a scream unlike anything Dean had ever heard, back arching violently. It was…god, it was awful, gut-wrenching. Desperate and resigned and _broken_, they'd broken his brother. So much worse than Dean had ever let himself believe someone could be broken. He was twisting away from them, contorting into any muscle-straining position he could to try and get away, get free. And not for a moment did he stop screaming.

Bobby cut a look at Dean, who was just staring at his violently writhing brother, mouth slightly agape, like he couldn't process Sam in this kind of pain.

Dean swallowed and quickly nodded his understanding at the man. The arm Bobby still had around Sam's neck tightened and, though it killed them both to do it this way, he didn't let up until Sam went totally limp, out cold, cut off mid-scream.

They were slow to pull back, but Dean's hands were right back on Sam, oblivious to any pain he may have been feeling. Two fingers against his little brother's neck while the other brushed back his hair.

"Sammy?" Now Dean was the shell-shocked one. He couldn't process what had happened. Sam was awake. Sam had found them. Sam was _not_ okay. They'd warned him, they'd all warned him. But what else was he supposed to have done?

"Dean!" Bobby barked like he'd been trying to get Dean's attention for awhile now. His voice was steady, something Dean could latch onto. Green eyes turned to look up at the older hunter, tears on his face. Bobby's look softened, but his tone was still firm.

"I know, kid…but we gotta get out of here before…whatever that was, comes back."

Because it wasn't Cas, not anymore. Dean wouldn't let himself think of whatever that was as his friend. Maybe Cas was trapped in that thing, maybe they could save him, maybe they'd have to kill him. However it played out, Dean pushed it to the back of his mind. There would be time to think about that later. Now, with a passed out, hell-broken little brother at his feet, he didn't want to waste a moment not focused on Sammy.

He nodded at Bobby, letting him know he was with him. The man set a reassuring hand on his shoulder and they both turned to look at his ginormous baby brother. Dean knew the situation was dire, but last time Sam had gone down, he'd had two good arms and he and Bobby hadn't just been tossed around by a demon. Then there were the twisting, turning corridors they'd taken to get down here, and _fuck_, the stairs. He looked back up at Bobby who looked just as exasperated.

"…How the hell do we get him out of here?"


End file.
